Ryan Seacrest leaves WME for CAA

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‘American Idol’ host and budding reality TV mogul Ryan Seacrest has signed with Creative Artists Agency after 10 years with William Morris.

The move comes only days after Seacrest signed a $45-million deal to stay with ‘American Idol’ for three more years.

Seacrest’s decision to exit the newly minted WME is not a complete shock. His long-time agent, Adam Sher, left to run Seacrest’s production company last year, and his other main suit at the firm -- John Ferriter -- has only just returned after a long medical leave.

Furthermore, Seacrest kept the agency out of negotiations of his latest deal, which soured their relationship, people familiar with the situation said.

CAA will handle all of Seacrest’s future television activities but not his radio work. Besides hosting ‘American Idol,’ Seacrest’s Ryan Seacrest Productions produces reality shows ‘Denise Richards: It’s Complicated’ and ‘Keeping Up With the Kardashians’ for the E! cable network and is developing a show with British chef James Oliver for ABC that will debut later this year.

For CAA, the deal with Seacrest gives it one more piece of the ‘American Idol’ pie. It already packages the hit Fox show and counts creator Simon Fuller as a client.

-- Joe Flint